ERIC ED399838: Mentoring Women of Color at the University of Minnesota: Challenges for Organizational Transformation.

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Dickey, Corinne
AUTHOR
Mentoring Women of Color at the University of
TITLE
Minnesota: Challenges for Organizational
Transformation.
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Administrators; American Indians; College Faculty;
DESCRIPTORS
Educational Psychology; Educational Sociology;
*Females; Graduate Students; Higher Education;
*Mentors; Minority Groups; *Organizational Change;
Qualitative Research;. Role Models; School Holding
Power; *Social Integration; Student Recruitment;
*Teacher Student Relationship; Womens Education
African Americans; *People of Color; *University of
IDENTIFIERS
Minnesota Minneapolis
ABSTRACT
This paper summarizes a research study on women in
three programs designed to recruit, retain, and graduate persons of
color at the University of Minnesota. The literature on mentoring is
reviewed in terms of social integration, academic integration, a
supportive institutional climate, and quality mentoring. The study
used qualitative case study methodology in interviews with students,
faculty mentors, and administrators in the three mentoring programs,
two of which (biological sciences and business administration) had
limited minority participation and one (education) with relatively
greater minority student and faculty representation. American Indian
students were the focus of the program within the graduate school of
business administration; all minorities and females within an
intensive summer undergraduate workshop in biological sciences; and
African Americans within the graduate program in education.
Interviews examined how students, faculty, and administrators
perceived the mentoring process, the climate at the University for
persons of color, and how mentoring enriched students' experiences.
Specific recommendations are offered to the regents; to the
University president; to the vice presidents/administrators, deans,
and departments; to the graduate school; to the faculty; and to
graduate students. (Contains 29 references.) (MAE)
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Minnesota:
the University
Mentoring Women of Color at
Organizational Transformation
Challenges for
Corinne Dickey
University of MinneSota
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Mentoriiig Women of Color at the University of Minnesota:
Challenges for Organizational Transformation
Corinne Dickey
University of Minnesota
This dissertation research focuses on women in three programs (in a
professional school, biological sciences, and education) designed to
retain, and graduate persons of color at the University of
recruit,
1) how students, faculty, and
The research examines:
Minnesota.
administrators perceive the mentoring process of the programs, and 2) the
climate at the University for persons of color and how mentoring would
Challenges to the administration and
help enrich students' experiences.
suggestions for organizational change are also presented.
However defined, diversity in academe generally has been granted high priority, yet it seems increasingly
An article appearing in the July 26, 1989 issue of Chronicle of Higher Education
difficult to achieve.
discusses a survey conducted by the American Council on Education that included for the first time
questions on minority recruiting at the college level. The article indicates the vast majority of colleges
their campuses but success
across the nation are attempting to increase the numbers of minority students on
It stressed that colleges must provide a hospitable climate for minorities if they are to
is modest, at best.
be retained through to graduation. That climate includes the use of more minority faculty (page A27).
One expectation of education, and especially higher education, is to contribute to improvement of
the social and economic well-being of individuals and groups within our society. Higher education could
be one of the primary paths to the attainment of positions of economic and political power for members
However, based on current research, on the whole, minorities have not been
of minority groups.
beneficiaries of policies that have sought to increase the recruitment, retention, and graduation of persons
of color, to improve graduation standards, improve curricular offerings, and reduce teacher/student ratios.
The University of Minnesota, a large land-grant university, and the site of this research, has a
commitment to diversity and to improving its ability to recruit and retain students and faculty of color.
For example, University leadership has established the following system-wide goals:
Improve the retention of students of color by 50 percent of the current base;
1.
Double the hiring of faculty of color;
2.
Increase the enrollment of students of color to 10 percent of total University
3.
enrollment;
Strengthen the University's ongoing and new efforts to make diversity integral
4.
to academic priorities.
One significant issue the goals present is how they are to be achieved. This dissertation research
specifically focuses on mentoring in higher education and is aimed at increasing the information base so
retaining, and
that this university, and other universities as well, can improve effectiveness in recruiting,
time, a
especially in graduating women and all students of color. This research establishes, for the first
considerable body of scientific data on mentoring derived at this institution that can be used to enable
meaningful policy and procedural decision making and that may be generalizable to other universities as
well. This research starts with the position derived from current literature that mentoring is part of the
important institutional dynamic of social integration of students.
Mentoring is an attractive approach to meeting the needs of students who are most at risk of
It can improve retention rates by addressing some of the causes
leaving the university before graduation.
mentoring
of attrition among these culturally diverse students. My research specifically investigated
successful recruitment and
processes that may be integral factors in effective strategies for increasing the
t's
retention of students of color in a university setting.
On the surface, the 1960's and 1970's were a positive time for those committed to expanding
minority access to higher education. The establishment of a variety of programs, a major expansion of
federal and state scholarship assistance for low-income students, and new efforts on many campuses to
recruit and retain more nonwhite students were just a few of the initiatives emphasized during this period.
However, college access for minorities persistently remained a
Minority enrollments began to climb.
problem. Upon closer inspection, researchers found that minorities were not entering the same kind of
It was found that a declining number of minority high school graduates went on to
colleges as Whites.
four-year institutions. The reason for this is believed to be that the majority of persons of color who did
successfully
go on to college were oftentimes mainstreamed into community colleges, where few transferred
to four-year institutions (Astin, 1985; Orfield, 1986:9-10).
Further, those minorities who today enter and graduate from college tend to be concentrated in
certain fields of study. For example, for persons receiving doctorates in 1993, 9.3 percent of education
doctorate degrees were awarded to Blacks, while for this same minority group, only 1.9 percent received
degrees in engineering and 1.5 percent in physical sciences. Hispanics comprised 4.1 percent of doctorates
in arts and humanities, but only 2.4 percent in engineering and 3.0 percent in physical sciences. American
Indians were below 1 percent of doctoral recipients in all fields (e.g., 0.3 percent in arts and humanities,
0.8 percent in education, 0.1 percent in engineering, and 0.3 percent in physical sciences. The Chronicle
of Higher Education, October 12, 1994).
Minorities as a whole are encouraged to behave like the majority White, middle-class even though
this may go against their own deeply-ingrained cultural behavioral norms. By doing this, both Whites and
minorities are missing out on the benefits that diversity can bring to the campus and to the society as a
Majority campuses, generally, historically have been nonwelcoming to students from other
whole.
Minority students
linguistic and cultural backgrounds. This is also true of the University of Minnesota.
have expressed feelings such as the "climate" being cold and unwelcoming at the University of Minnesota
(Turner, 1994). Others have stated that "retention rests on feeling connected" (Tabet, 1994).
In discussing African American students, Holland (1994) says:
Studies have found colleges and universities have lost ground in the enrollment of African
in the proportion of African American graduate and
American graduate students
. .
.
in the participation by African Americans in research
. and
doctoral degrees granted .
.
It is the belief of many scholars that the
and faculty positions in its universities.
.
. .
pipeline from which African American faculty are produced is drying up. Common
[is] that in general
explanations for the low flow of minorities in the pipeline
.
.
.
academe has been inhospitable towards African American students (page 2).
Holland (1994) makes the connection between the relatively few minorities in higher education and the
importance of social interactions (such as mentoring) when he states:
Limited interactions with the major advisor, the formal structure of the infrequent
encounters, and the basic and routine academic guidance provided to the doctoral student
In these involvements, the advisor is not
render the involvements non-developmental.
involved in nurturing or grooming the doctoral student (p. 8).
In a holistic sense, quality mentoring can be seen as a way of addressing society's injustices
(Redmond, 1990). Redmond (1990) contends, and many other researchers agree (Astin, 1985; Pascarella
and Terenzini, 1991; Tinto, 1987, for example), that students frequently leave universities before
For instance, the psychosocial climate of a university
graduation for reasons other than academic ones.
has a tremendous effect on students, especially those from culturally diverse backgrounds (Green, 1989;
The implications of these realities must be
Smith, 1989; Kauffman, Carter and Hurtado, n.d.).
acknowledged by program administrators, mentors, and proteges. What are some of the factors that lead
associated with
to student success in college? How do mentoring functions interact with other factors
student success?
The illustration on the next page is my conceptualization of some important factors leading to
student success, including mentoring. The way I see mentoring improving student success includes not
of
only the transfer of marketable academic skills, attitudes, and behaviors but also involves coexistence
4
The Mentorinq Relationship and Co-existing Factors
Figure 1.
Leading Toward Student Success
FITTING THE CRUCIAL PIECES TOGETHER BUILDS TOWARD SUCCESS
ACADEMIC
SOCIAL
QUALITY
INTEGRATION
INTEGRATION
MENTORING
5,
ri 5,
1
ENHANCED
PSYCHOSOCIAL
Jr
INTELLECTUAL
UNIVERSITY
DEVELOPMENT
CLIMATE
5
INFORMAL
6-r
NONACADEMIC
CONTACT
EXTRACURRICULARI
IL
INVOLVEMENT
HELPFUL
MULTIPLE
U
FAMILY
SKILLS
INFLUENCES
DEVELOPMENT
8
FORMALIZED,
11
EMOTIONAL,
10
POSITIVE
PERSONAL
-1._
ENCOURAGEMENT
SUPPORT
FINANCIAL
SUPPORTIVE
SATISFYING
SUPPORT
INSTITUTIONAL
CLASSROOM
CLIMATE
INTERACTION
5
trust, and
mutually interdependent factors contributing to development of a level of interaction,
communication that, in turn, results in psychosocial comfort that empowers a student with the knowledge
If
and confidence to grow. This means to experience both academic and personal development/growth.
such growth occurs, the student will be more likely to remain at the university until graduation, thus
In order to demonstrate how the
meeting the needs of the university to address the problem of attrition.
various pieces shown here can assist student success, four factors--social integration, academic integration,
supportive institutional climate, as well as quality mentoring--are discussed in further detail.
Social and Academic Integration and Attrition
There is a growing body of evidence indicating that social and academic integration tend to have a
differential influence on persistence for different kinds of students (Astin, 1985; Pascarella and Terenzini,
study of
1991; Tinto, 1987). A central and recurring theme throughout Pascarella and Terenzini's (1991)
of
20 years' of college student experiences is that "it is clear that many of the most important effects
college occur through students' interpersonal experiences with faculty members and other students" (page
644).
These same authors found in 1979 that the frequency of informal contact with faculty to discuss
intellectual issues and the perceived quality of interaction with faculty and peers had their most positive
of
influence on persistence for students who came from families where parents had relatively low levels
formal education.
There is also a growing body of evidence indicating that measures of social and academic
integration tend to have a differential influence on persistence for different kinds of students. Mentoring
leaving
is an attractive approach to meeting the needs of certain groups of students who are most at risk of
the university before graduation.
Based on the literature review, an assumption made in this present research is that faculty contact
and
has a significant impact on the academic and social integration of students enrolled in colleges
It is reasonable to assume, then, that the quality of faculty contact in the form of mentoring
universities.
focus of my study.
may have a significant impact on women students of color, the
Supportive Institutional Climate
in
To Astin (1975), student persistence depends to some extent on the degree of personal involvement
environment, therefore, was found to be very
campus life and environment. An institution's cultural
important. Richardson, Simmons and de los Santos (1987) state:
Where minority student enrollment is closer to 10 percent, considerable attention is given
enrollments of
to building an environment minority students perceive as hospitable....As
the environment changes from
a specific minority group approach 20 percent,
accommodation through special programs to incorporation into the mainstream of
institutional culture (page 23).
"The best graduation rates occur where comprehensive and systematic institutional
They conclude that:
efforts are supplemented by strong support from system and state leadership" (page 26).
Quality Mentoring
For
persistence.
Mentoring cannot be overlooked when examining the various contributors to student
failure
minority students, mentoring programs can mean the difference between isolation and integration;
be
Social and academic integration levels of students in the higher education institution can
and success.
affected by mentoring.
and,
Several variables have been found to be important in matching mentors and proteges
6
ultimately, to the success of the mentoring relationships. These variables include attention to gender, major
1989; Erkut and
area of interest, dominant personality traits, and sometimes race or ethnicity (Blackwell,
Mokrus, 1985; Gilbert, 1985; Knox, 1988).
Gender coupled together with ethnicity variables establishes another important function category
of consideration in mentoring program design. As Carter, Pearson, and Shavlik (1988) state:
At the intersection of race and gender stand women of color, torn by the lines of bias that
currently divide white from nonwhite in our society, and male from female. The worlds
these women negotiate demand different and often wrenching allegiances. As a result,
women of color face significant obstacles to their full participation in and contribution to
higher education...Collectively, today's women students are diverse in terms of age,
social class, race, ethnicity, and religion. Their needs and learning styles often challenge
the prevailing culture (page 98).
The work in this dissertation investigated the importance of mentoring in recruitment and retention.
Focused on women students of color, this research examined factions from both psychosocial and
sociological perspectives. The importance of these factors is highlighted by Pascarella and Terenzini (1991)
when they state:
...the extent and quality of one's social interaction with student peers and faculty ...(have
a) positive influence on persistence, educational aspirations, bachelor's degree attainment
This influence is largely independent of student
and graduate school attendance.
precollege characteristics, the characteristics of the institution attended, and one's level
of academic achievement during college. Thus, consistent with theoretical expectations,
social interaction with significant others during college, and the encouragement received
therefrom, exert an independent influence in the educational attainment process (page
418).
Mentoring addresses several causes of student attrition and delayed graduation, including the lack
of proper academic preparation for college, the lack of knowledge about or access to social, academic, or
1989;
financial resources, and the absence of a comfortable psychological milieu for matriculation (Gavin,
Stampen & Cabrera, 1988).
My research study describes quality mentoring as a comprehensive, complex, interpersonal matrix
Certainly the
Mentoring cannot be reduced to an advisor/advisee relationship.
of functions.
advisor/advisee relationship is one important type of mentoring. However, to be most constructive and
applicable, mentoring must be viewed in terms of multiple mentors and that everyone is a potential mentor.
be a
An advisor is primarily concerned with one's success as a student. A mentor (and an advisor can
whole
mentor) guides, protects, and empowers a protege; the mentor is concerned with the success of the
Quality mentoring takes into account what I consider to be the most realistic of the mentoring
person.
effectiveness
definitions established to date, but, more importantly, it recognizes a critical component of
examined;
which has neither been emphasized nor thoroughly considered in any of the mentoring research
I envision mentoring as a two-way street, a
namely, the reciprocal aspect of the mentoring relationship.
A mentor offers advice,
Both parties have something to offer one another.
mutual relationship.
for the
information, and both professional and personal support. A protege offers fresh ideas, recognition
mentor, innovative methods, and the creation of a new audience.
Sociological Theory Contributing to Mentoring
One of the most directly relevant roles an institution plays for students is comprised of exposing them to
of this
diversity, presenting opportunities to explore, peer and adult models to emulate (in the context
and
dissertation research--mentoring), and experiences that challenge currently held values, attitudes,
beliefs.
and
In a 1979 article by Pascarella and Terenzini, they study the interaction effects of Spady's
7
Tinto's conceptual models of college dropout. The quality and frequency of the student-faculty interaction
is cited as the most consistent pattern of interaction that positively influences persistence of entering "high
Frequency of informal student-faculty contact (e.g., informal mentoring; socialization)
risk" freshmen.
is seen as crucial. They state that "such aspects of student-faculty relationships as the frequency of student-
faculty informal contact beyond the classroom are in fact positively associated with college persistence."
They state further in this 1979 article that the relationships with faculty "is seen as a particularly important
influence on both academic and social integration," so much so that "the benefits of certain college
experiences may be sufficient to override entering traits which often typify the dropout-prone student" (page
Tinto (1986) also states that it is important that this frequent faculty contact occur outside the
198).
classroom as well as within the classroom. In fact, Tinto's research shows that this kind of interaction is
one of the most important forms of interaction impacting student persistence and has also been shown to
He states that, "the more
be instrumental to a student's intellectual and social development as well.
frequent and rewarding these contacts, especially when they go beyond the requirements of academic work,
the greater the likelihood of persistence and high levels of individual growth" (page 37). This, too, is the
basis upon which my dissertation research is grounded.
Vincent Tinto is one of the best known and respected researchers of attrition and his Theoretical
Model of Dropout Behavior has been widely considered and tested since it was introduced in 1975. His
theory of persistence at the undergraduate level focuses on the reasons behind the actual dropping out or
persistence of a student. Building upon the work of Spady (1970), Tinto theorizes that
students enter a college or university with varying patterns of personal, family, and
academic characteristics and skills, including initial dispositions and intentions with
respect to college attendance and personal goals. These intentions and commitments are
subsequently modified and reformulated on a continuing basis through a longitudinal
series of interactions between the individual and the structures and members of the
academic and social systems of the institution. Satisfying and rewarding encounters with
the formal and informal academic and social systems of the institution are presumed to
lead to greater integration in those systems and thus to student retention (cited in
Pascarella and Terenzini, 1991, p. 51).
A common thread running through Tinto's attrition research is that the decision to withdraw or
He
persevere is influenced by the extent to which a student's intellectual and social integration occurs.
states,
...the more time faculty give to their students, and students to each other, the more likely
are students to complete their education. Both academically and socially, such informal
contacts appear to be essential components in the process of social and intellectual
higher
development of individuals and
entering
in
seek
they
rewards
the
in
education....institutions should encourage those contacts whenever and wherever possible
(1982, page 697).
One point especially important to my research is Tinto's investigation of social conditions of the
students and viewing the college as a social system with its own values and social structures. He found
that "it is the individual's integration into the academic and social systems of the college that most directly
relates to his or her continuance at that college" (1975:96) in that "lack of integration into the social system
of the college will lead to low commitment to that social system and will increase the probability that
individuals will decide to leave college and pursue alternative activities" (1975:92). In other words, those
students who are not sufficiently integrated into the fabric of the college society (e.g., through
socialization)--those who, for example, hold values highly divergent from those of the "social collectivity"-
Mentoring,
many times suffer from insufficient personal interaction with other members of that society.
then, could and should be considered as a significant vehicle for students to achieve both personal and
academic socialization.
8
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Psychosocial Theory Contributing to Mentoring
The main focus of the definition of quality mentoring that was developed as a result of this dissertation
A truly meaningful mentoring relationship is a "two-way" process.
The
research is reciprocity.
responsibilities and benefits of a quality mentoring relationship are of equal importance to both the mentor
and the protege. Long before the benefits and importance of mentoring interactions were "discovered" and
more recently studied, Erik Erikson was conducting research on the human life cycle and developing
psychosocial theories.
In his most influential book, Childhood and Society (1963; 1993), Erikson divided the human life
cycle into eight stages of development. The main emphasis of this conception is on the development of
human potential (Erikson, 1987:596). For purposes of this dissertation research, the emphasis is upon
In discussing this stage, Erikson says that
Generativity vs. Self-absorption.
Stage VII, Adulthood:
humankind has evolved in such a way that we are both a teaching as well as a learning animal (Erikson,
1987:607).
Dependency and maturity are reciprocal in that mature individuals need to be needed, and maturity
is guided by the nature of that which must be cared for (Erikson, 1987:607). Erikson's term for this caring
is generativity. Generativity is primarily the concern with establishing and guiding the next generation,
From generativity emerges the
including productivity and creativity; thus it is psychosocial in nature.
Erikson says that generativity encompasses procreativity, productivity, and creativity,
strength of care.
and thus the generation of new beings as well as of new products and new ideas, including a kind of self-
Mentoring, then, is an excellent vehicle for
generation concerned with further identity development.
passing on customs and knowledge to a new generation (protege) as well as contributing to a healthy
personality through generativity for the mentor.
Following Erikson's lead, then, the point is that the mentor and the protege each make a
contribution to a quality mentoring relationship. Where and when the relationship is more one sided, the
relationship suffers as does the quality of the mentoring.
Research Summary
Universities throughout the country are experimenting with "planned mentoring" to improve both retention
and delayed graduation rates in circumstances of demographically underrepresented students, faculty, and
administrators. But how is mentoring manifested in the higher education environment? What constitutes
quality mentoring? What specifically are the salient features and functions of quality mentoring?
University of Minnesota circumstances and conditions present a unique opportunity to study three
specific programs (one undergraduate and two at the graduate level) whose goals are to increase the
institutional participation of persons of color. A central objective of the present research study is to
aforementioned
compare and contrast the pragmatic effects, if any, of the mentoring processes. Due to the
national trend toward minority students' disproportionate concentration in specific fields, this current effort
investigates three fields of study, two of which have limited minority student participation (biological
sciences and business administration). Minority student and faculty representation is relatively greater in
the third field (education).
Through qualitative case study methodology, participants in this research study spoke at
considerable length regarding their views of the mentoring process, where it exists, and equally at length
The kind of mentoring relationship experienced (or not
about problems when mentoring was absent.
experienced) was examined and dominant trends in student and faculty/staff perceptions of the mentoring
Students, faculty, and administrators were interviewed in all three programs for
process was described.
the specific purpose of comparing and contrasting their perspectives of the mentoring process and its
existence or non-existence in each particular program.
My research focused on three programs within three different colleges at the University of
retain, and graduate persons of color at the
These programs are designed to recruit,
Minnesota.
postsecondary level. The three programs were selected because of their differences with respect to the
mentoring factor and also due to the varying degrees of underrepresentation of minorities within the
disciplines. The mentoring factor within these three programs ranged from none to that's what the program
9
is all about. The research examined how the students and faculty perceived the mentoring process of the
I looked at the climate of the institution for persons of color and how mentoring would help
programs.
enrich students' experiences. Information was gathered primarily from 40 one-on-one, in-depth interviews
with students, faculty/mentors, and administrators.
Program A is a graduate program in a professional school that serves American Indian students
that began operation in Fall 1990 and it is the only such program in the nation. The program's objective
is to provide professional training to Native Americans who will eventually be involved in tribal
management activities with the goal of aiding tribal financial self-sufficiency. Mentoring is not a formal
part of this program.
These students were first-generation college students. The first two students, both women, were
criticism. Competition is
seen as groundbreakers. As such, these students experienced more racism and
of the American
a built-in part of this program and the very concept of competition goes against the roots
These two students felt inadequate and
Indian culture which is very family-oriented and team-oriented.
There was an expressed fear of being lost in the
had a hard time really feeling like getting involved.
and combined as
system and not getting personalized attention. To overcome this, these two women met
Native American student there.
a team. Both agreed that it was helpful to have another woman
Over the next two years, three more women entered the program. All these students were pretty
much on their own. Any mentoring that occurred was peer mentoring. The entering women students
They shared information about instructors, particular
relied on the second year students for support.
classes and size of classes, the weather, and how many people were in the program. One entering student
said that she expected there would be mentors in this program. Her idea of how graduate school worked
about her program, however,
was that there were mentors who were available as advisors. She concluded
that "it just wasn't happening that way."
Women students entering the program after 1990 had it a bit easier because the first students had
laid the foundation for those who followed. The first two women said that their classmates did not have
had many more minority students in
a lot of experience with minorities but the following years' classes
them. Therefore, whereas the first students experienced racism, students who entered the program later
did not. All of these students said mentoring would be a positive addition to the program and that because
the bureaucracy of the university is so entrenched, to have somebody to talk to, someone they could relate
to, another person of color, another female, would help give them emotional support.
One problem the first women graduates encountered was that their tribes did not understand the
value of a graduate education. One of them stated that the tribe was not very receptive to her, as a woman
coming into management, as no woman had ever achieved upper management within her tribe. She said
they insulted her by offering her the same level job as when she left.
for
an undergraduate intensive summer workshop in biological sciences
Program B is
underrepresented populations (minorities and females) that began in 1989. Students come from all parts
of the United States for ten weeks of independent research in the laboratories of faculty mentors within the
college. Mentoring is planned and students are paired with faculty in various science disciplines.
The types, depth, and levels of mentoring described varied greatly. Reflections from the students
of
ranged from one individual looking upon her mentor as a "friend," to another individual's recognition
blatant insensitivity on the part of the mentor. One student said:
My mentor said I should come here and she seemed like she was really, you know, a
friend. She called me a lot after that, like every other week. So, she seemed like she
for that reason...She's
was going to be a personal friend, too. So I decided to come here
I know I'm fortunate because most people don't have mentors who are as
great!
open...She's always there and you can knock on her door all the time. And it's never,
It's always, "Come in." She's never had a time when she's too busy
"Wait a second!"
when I ask her a question. She picked me up from the airport, which is unique, because
she invited me to her house for
no one else's mentor picked them up at the airport...And
Fourth of July.
On the other hand, another student relates:
10